One in a Million
by lon'quesadilla
Summary: The idea to try to have a baby might have been an easy one to make, but the decision about who the donor for their future child should be was anything but simple, due to the super high standards that Maribelle had in mind for him. Modern AU.
**This story is for a good friend of mine, Dr. Psycho! I loved this prompt and had so much fun with it (and learned so much!). Hope you like it! c:**

* * *

The baby fever had gotten worse in the past month since they had become completely serious about the 'having a baby' thing. In the few years Lissa and Maribelle had been together, they had discussed the possibilities of having children and the process they would need to take to achieve those goals. It finally seemed to be a good time to add a baby to their lives, both of them out of college and making their way in the world, so they had taken the first steps in the long process.

The only problem about the last step was that the course of action they had to go through required choosing a donor for the process to be completed, and this task had proven to be a more difficult process than figuring out who would carry the baby (which was decided fairly easily on it being Maribelle).

Lissa and Maribelle had spent many nights browsing through the various online donor profiles cuddled together at the laptop, Lissa pointing to the ones that looked appealing and Maribelle declining them, finding something about them that she didn't like. Since she would be carrying the child, she said, she wanted the more or less anonymous donor to be to her specific liking and standards, not just some man who had donated to donate and make some quick money. This selecting-and-declining process continued until the pair became frustrated with each other and had to take a break for a few minutes.

The factor that always broke the tension between them was knowing that it would be all for their future child, even if this part of the selection process was difficult and frustrating.

Finally growing tired of the disagreements every single time, Maribelle suggested to research clinics close to where they lived, so they could drive there to review and discuss more donors over the computer with one of the staff members, in hopes they would finally find the right one. They found the local one with a quick internet search, and set out there the very next day.

Despite being the one to come up with this idea, Maribelle was still displeased after they had arrived and were told to wait in the waiting room. Luckily for them, the small waiting room was not heavily populated, and so she began mumbling her frustrations aloud to herself about how they were probably getting their hopes up, only to have them come spiraling down again at not being able to find the right one. Lissa had no words of comfort for her girlfriend, having gone through these same frustrations a myriad of times already in their little disagreements after looking at home, but she was a comforting hand to hold. Maribelle continued venting as they waited for their appointment. Their hands rested together on the armrest between their chairs.

Maribelle had only finished ranting about the first problem, and was just about to start protesting how long they had been waiting, when one of the doors behind the reception desk opened. A man with brown hair came out, holding an unlabeled paper bag, presumably containing the clinic's latest donations. Suddenly, the grasp Maribelle made on Lissa's hand increased, and Lissa turned to her girlfriend, grimacing a bit at the sudden tightening on her hand.

"Maribelle, what-"

"That man, the one who just came out of that room." was her whispered reply. Lissa turned her attention to where Maribelle was looking. The man she was referencing had just gotten to the reception desk, and was talking to the nurse in attendance. He held the paper bag at his side, finally placing it on the counter in front of him as he continued talking to the nurse. The girls watched him as he opened the bag and pulled the two numbered vials out onto the counter.

"Him? He looks familiar..." Lissa whispered back.

"He used to, or maybe still does, go to the community college. We had a few classes with him back when we attended, don't you remember?" Maribelle asked, continuing to watch him.

Lissa had to think for a moment; having graduated from the college a few years back, she barely remembered her classes and who had been in them (except for Maribelle, of course; they made sure to take every single required class together), but it finally clicked after he had finished talking to the receptionist and turned to face the girls, smiling. She remembered him then. Despite Lissa and Maribelle being a thing in college, they had still both found him to be a very attractive and friendly classmate.

She was still thinking about the college days when he nodded to them as he walked by, before leaving. Perhaps he had recognized them, perhaps he was just being polite.

"I do remember him, but I can't remember his name." Lissa said, coming out of her thoughts.

"That's not important. What is important, however, is finally getting this process on the road. Come, darling." Maribelle said, pulling Lissa's hand, causing them to stand.

"You mean, you're picking him?" Lissa asked, going along with Maribelle and sounding surprised at what she had said. "You finally found someone who's up to your standards?"

Giving Lissa a nod of her confirmation, Maribelle marched up to the reception desk, Lissa following her. "We'd like to use the man who was just here as means of conceiving our child." she said, issuing to the vials in front of her on the counter.

The receptionist looked up at her, before frowning. "I'm sorry, but he's a new donor and has to go through the process before we officially make him part of our system. If all goes well though, he'll be part of it between six months and a year from now, and you're more than welcome to use him, then."

"Six months to a year? We will not be waiting that long!" Maribelle said, her voice rising with anger.

"I'm sorry, it's the rules. Just check back in that time, and-"

Besides her, the phone suddenly rang, and the receptionist held up a finger to Maribelle as she answered it. The phone call must have been important, because she swung her office chair away from the girls to talk. It didn't do any good on stifling the conversation at all, but it did do good for Maribelle's spur of the moment plan.

Instead of trying to argue more points once the receptionist had gotten off the phone and back to them, she grabbed one of the vials that were there, before pocketing it. Being quick, but trying not to look guilty, she grasped Lissa's hand and proceeded to pull her through the waiting room and back outside. Lissa didn't (couldn't was a better word) do anything in means of stopping her, so for the time being, she simply went along with it.

"Um, Maribelle, I'm pretty sure that's illegal." Lissa finally spoke up once they were far enough from the building to not be seen or heard. They had turned the corner and were almost back to the parking lot where the car was parked.

"Well, Lissa darling, do you really want to wait another six months to a year, or do you want to try now?" Maribelle asked, patting her pocket with the goods in it. In the end, there really was no other decision.

Luckily, both the clinic and the women's medical center were located within a few miles of each other, so the very next place they went was there, to hopefully really begin their journey into parenthood. They had already filled out all the required paperwork with the medical center in the beginning, and although their means of getting the required last bit of the formula were not usually the way it worked (though they didn't reveal what that way was), nevertheless, the procedure was done. Afterwards, they were given the spiel that getting pregnant only worked a small percent of the time the first try, but they were very hopeful.

Once finished at the clinic, they tried quelling the excitement that had built up in the last hour by going to their most favorite restaurant for a bite to eat, hoping the food would put their minds on something besides their potential baby. It didn't, however, and every topic of discussion ended up turning to it. The conversation quickly died down when a few tables away they noticed a familiar face- the same familiar face they had seen earlier that day at the clinic. He noticed them too, and waved a hand at them. They waved back and resumed their meals, but the topics of babies were completely dropped after this.

Nothing too eventful happened the next few weeks. Taking the warning that the process may not have worked gave the girls the inspiration to try again at browsing the donor's profiles on the websites. Maribelle was a bit more open to Lissa's suggestions this time around, but this might have been because she had tweaked the preferences a little to match those of the familiar mystery man they had run into and basically stolen a donation from.

Bothered by still being unable to remember his name, they tried every means of social media sites to try to find it. After about a week they gave up, figuring if they couldn't remember, it probably wasn't that important.

One morning a few days after the big name hunt had taken place, Lissa awoke to the sounds of Maribelle retching in the bathroom. She rolled out of bed and walked into the bathroom adjacent to their room, finding Maribelle crouching in front of the toilet. Lissa walked around her and sat on the edge of the tub, leaning forward to put a hand on her girlfriend's back to rub it a little bit.

"Think it's the flu?" Lissa asked. After retching, but not actually throwing up, Maribelle shrugged. Lissa used her other hand to move Maribelle's hair out of her face in case she really _did_ get sick. The episode lasted only another couple minutes, and once it seemed to be over, Maribelle sat back on the floor, one hand clutching her bathrobe to keep it closed.

"I have no idea what that was about." she muttered, leaning her head back against the wall. "I'm sorry you had to see that, dear."

"It's alright, just so long as you're feeling better now." Lissa said, lowering herself off the edge of the tub and sitting on the floor next to Maribelle.

"Not one hundred percent, but getting there." she replied, laying her head on Lissa's shoulder.

"Good, but the floor is no place for you to be, so let's get you back into bed." Lissa said, grabbing Maribelle's hand. Maribelle nodded, accepting her help to get back up, before they made their way back into the bedroom and into the bed.

The next morning, the same thing happened again. And a short while after it was over and Maribelle was leaning back against the wall, instead of moaning about how much this sucked and what it could be, she turned herself towards Lissa and muttered one word: Frederick. Why his name had finally come to her during her moment of weakness, she didn't know; but later that day once she was feeling better and was busy going about her day, a possible reason why she remembered his name came to her.

Instead of saying something right away to Lissa, as hard as that was, she waited for the next morning to see if her theory could be correct. It was only after the third straight morning's bout of sickness did she say something. That something led to a trip out that day for one very important item. They waited on using it, though; a few more days just to make sure it wasn't really a flu bug or something else. Constantly throughout that day, they had to remind each other not to get too excited.

And on the seventh consecutive day of Maribelle finding herself in front of the toilet first thing in the morning and Lissa sitting by her for support, once she could be out of bed long enough to not be sick, they brought the very important item bought earlier that week into the bathroom for it's intended use. Even though all signs pointed to success after the longest five minutes of their lives, there was just one more thing to do to really prove it.

They barely made it to the last-minute appointment they had made with the doctor after the result of the test, but once they were leaving the office almost forty-five minutes later with a few blurry pictures of something that slightly resembled a bean, they had all the proof they needed that the first try had been successful.

* * *

Maribelle's dreadful morning sickness subsided once she was officially in the second trimester, and for that she was very thankful. The excitement hadn't declined at all since coming home from the doctor's with the fuzzy baby pictures. Everything became about the baby, even the most irrelevant topics. The great gender and name debate began after the third appointment; though they had not been able to learn the gender at this one due to the baby still being too small and very uncooperative, they were given promises that this would soon enough be revealed.

In the meantime, even with the baby still being small, it was becoming active. Lissa couldn't quite yet feel the tiny movements, but every time Maribelle would put a hand to her slightly curved stomach and report feeling the baby's fluttery movements again, she would grow more anxious to finally be able to feel, too.

That finally happened one night while snuggling together on their small couch discussing baby names. They were sitting close together, Lissa's hand on one side of her girlfriend's now visibly pregnant stomach. She was suggesting names off the top of her head. At Lissa's suggestion of a particular name, while Maribelle was thinking it over, there was a slight movement under her palm. The conversation immediately ceased, replaced with two gasps in sync.

"Did you-"

"Was that-"

"Keep talking, love. Let's see if it happens again." Maribelle encouraged, placing her hand on top of Lissa's.

"W-what do I say?" Lissa asked, as if it really mattered.

"Just talk. Suggest that name again."

At the second mention of the previously suggested name, there was another tiny movement, this time a few moments after the fact, but still there.

"This has to be a coincidence." Lissa said, taking her hand away from Maribelle's stomach, frowning a bit.

"If by chance this baby is the gender you are suggesting with that name, that's going to be his name." Maribelle replied, grabbing for Lissa's hand and placing it back where it had been in hopes she would feel it again. "It's like it was meant to be."

Despite there being no more coincidences after this in their resumed name conversation, Lissa did managed to feel more of the tiny movements.

As it was, the next time they were crowded in the small doctor's office for a check up on the quickly-growing baby, along with getting the good news that it's heartbeat was nice and strong, they also got the answer to the question which had plagued their conversations every night before they could go to sleep: what the baby was. Whether the events of Lissa's name suggestion and feeling the baby move had been pure coincidental, what was something more than coincidence had caused the baby inside of Maribelle to be the gender of Lissa's name suggestion. Baby Brady, as he would be known as, was truly a miracle.

A miracle that was the cause of celebration that evening. Treating themselves to an evening out was something they didn't do often, but this was definitely something that had to happen from the day's events.

The restaurant actually wasn't too crowded for a weeknight, and they were seated fairly quickly. After ordering two waters and asking to get a little more time to look over the menus (which they actually weren't planning on doing right away), the conversation quickly turned again to the baby. The past few days, they had been discussing plans about turning the small extra room in the apartment into the nursery.

Not realizing they were being overheard, after a little while a third person from a different table joined the discussion.

"Couldn't help but overhear," a familiar voice said from a table over, the man it belonged to turning in his seat to face the girls again, "but congrats."

"Thank you." Maribelle spoke first, finding where the new voice was coming from. It was the man from the clinic again. "Frederick, is it?" She was almost certain, but just wanted to be perfectly sure.

"It is." he confirmed with a nod. They mystery was officially solved. "And you lovely ladies are..."

"Lissa."

"Maribelle."

"Hey, didn't we have a few classes together a few years back at the community college?" Frederick asked, looking questioningly at the girls. "I know I remember those names from somewhere."

"That's right, it was that English class." Maribelle answered.

"Thought so." Frederick said, his face clearing of the previously confused look. "Are you still taking classes there?"

"We finished our education, and now are fully devoted to raising our child." Maribelle replied, folding her hands and placing them on top of her stomach.

"What about you? Are you still taking classes?" Lissa asked.

Frederick nodded. "I am. After graduation, it was tough, but then I found a way to continue being a student and being able to pay for school."

The girls prodded him to share this way, inviting him over to their table. Frederick got up from his seat and scooted into the booth next to Lissa, who scooted over and allowed him in.

"Well, you remember us running into each other at the clinic when we did?" he asked, and the girls nodded. "Being a donor actually pays pretty well. If you're one of the very low percent accepted, that is."

"I take it you were accepted?" Maribelle asked.

"It's quite a story, but I was eventually, yes."

"We've got time. Please, do tell." Maribelle said, leaning forward on the other side of the table and resting her head on her hands.

"Well, I was called back after about an hour from the receptionist, who claimed I had only left one sample instead of the required two." Frederick began, putting his hands in front of him on the table.

Maribelle and Lissa shared a concerned glance at each other from across the table, which Frederick saw and paused his story. "What?"

"Nothing, please continue." Maribelle said.

Still looking a bit concerned, Frederick continued. "Well, I told her I had in fact left two, and she was quiet a few moments before telling me she remembered that I had."

Lissa cleared her throat. "You totally did, there were two when you were talking to the nurse-"

"Lissa dear, I think maybe it is time to explain what happened that fateful day." Maribelle said.

"Explain what?" Frederick asked, looking between the girls. "What's the matter?"

Maribelle sighed. "You see, you did in fact have two. After you had walked out, Lissa and I went up and asked if we could use your samples for trying to have our child. After explaining that you were a new donor and needed to go through the process, a phone call came in and the nurse turned her back away from us for just a moment."

Frederick looked puzzled. "Alright, but that doesn't exactly explain why-"

"In the time after she had finished her telephone conversation and had turned back around, Lissa and I were halfway to a different clinic." Maribelle finished, sighing as she leaned back in the booth and put her hands on the sides of her stomach.

It only took Frederick a moment to fill in the blank, before his eyes fell on Maribelle's swollen middle. "Is that...is that kind of technically my baby, then?" he asked.

"We were lucky for Maribelle to have gotten pregnant on the first try from a new donor not even in the system yet." Lissa confirmed. Frederick said nothing, taking in the news.

"But what happened at the clinic? What did the receptionist do then?" Maribelle asked, wanting to break the slightly awkward silence which had fallen.

Still shocked at the news he'd been told, Frederick had to shake his head to make himself continue. "She made me come in and, well, give another sample so there were two. I did, and then I left to get something to eat."

"And then we ran into you that second time in one day." Lissa said.

"That's right. And now we're here." Frederick said.

"And we just found out today that it's a boy." Maribelle made the conversation continue. "Funny story about that too, but at a later time."

Frederick nodded again. "I'm really honored that I was chosen to be your donor, despite the way it ended up happening."

"The important thing is it happened." Lissa said, as Maribelle rubbed her stomach. "And in a little less than four months, we'll finally get to meet the little guy."

"Have you come up with a name yet?" Frederick asked.

"That's what that story is about." Lissa said, smiling.

"I have time." Frederick said. "I told you a story, now you tell one."

The three of them talked as if they had known each other their entire lives, and were only stopped by the fact the restaurant had to close for the night. Though numbers were exchanged to be able to continue the conversations at a later time (probably tomorrow), before the three officially said goodbye for the night, Frederick became the honorary godfather of the unborn child.

* * *

In the few months remaining until the due date, the girls made sure to do everything in their power to prepare for the baby. They had every detail thought out, down to the outfit they would use to bring the baby home from the hospital in. Frederick was invited to spend a few nights of each week helping with other preparations for the baby around the apartment.

Together, he and Lissa assembled the crib while Maribelle watched, giving the occasional instruction on how she thought that it was done; after a while the pair of them began to ignore her commands of what they were doing "wrong" during the process. Apparently that was a lot, but this was because of the end of her pregnancy being so close and the conflicting mood swings. Once the crib was set up to her liking, however, everything was alright.

On one of the evenings devoted to hanging around and helping with things, he brought with him a large, blue gift bag.

"Thought I should have gotten him some things he might need." he explained, seeing Lissa's questioning look at the bag. "Just some clothes and a couple of toys."

"Aw, you didn't have to do that. We have plenty of baby things." Lissa said, letting him in and closing the door behind him. She led him down the hall and into the room they'd spent the time converting to a nursery.

"But you don't have things from his godfather." Frederick said upon entering the room. He bent to set the bag down on the floor and stood to greet Maribelle, who he saw was frowning severely as she dug through one of the drawers of baby clothes. "Something wrong, Maribelle?"

Lissa came up next to him, giving a small sigh. "She just wants everything to be perfect for the baby once he's here, and-"

"And they're not! The clothes are all rumpled and simply won't do!" she said, pulling a few of the outfits out and using the top of the dresser to refold them.

"This is the third time she's gone through that drawer today." Lissa whispered to him.

"So this would probably be a bad time to mention to her I may have a few more things to add, then?" Frederick asked, watching as Maribelle folded the clothes.

"Probably a bad time." Lissa agreed. "I think this means it's getting close though, since she's so obsessed with everything being perfect."

Frederick nodded in agreement, the pair of them watching as Maribelle finished folding those particular clothes and started the process on some others.

Despite Maribelle spending the rest of the night after Frederick had gone cleaning the apartment practically top to bottom (causing Lissa to become angry with her for climbing on to a step ladder to clean some of the high shelves in her state), it wasn't even the telltale sign that the baby was coming.

In fact, the telltale sign didn't even come until almost two weeks later after this episode. (Luckily in this time, the room had been finished and Maribelle seemed to be quite content with it.) It was one night when the women were laying in bed together, Lissa in the middle of her nightly routine of talking to the baby while Maribelle dozed.

"Oh, baby Brady," she whispered, drawing his name out a bit as she rubbed a spot on the side of Maribelle's stomach with her hand, "we can't wait to meet you."

There was a little kick right where her palm was.

"It's a good time for you to come out now, you know." Lissa continued, encouraged by the little kick. "We have your toys, crib, and clothes all ready for you."

At this, Maribelle made a soft noise in her sleep, either in response to what Lissa had said or completely unrelated to this; either way, it made Lissa smile. After a moment she started to wrap up her talk, taking her hand away and instead leaning forward to kiss the spot.

"So you get ready to come out soon, okay?" She placed two more kisses before completely pulling away (one for the baby and one for Maribelle), but nearly as soon as she had, Maribelle jerked awake with a sudden, pained gasp.

"I think he's taking that offer to come now, dear." she said, before Lissa had the chance to ask what had happened.

"Oh wow, really? We have to go, then!" Lissa said, jumping up off the bed to begin gathering the necessary things.

"It's not a rush yet, but please don't forget the hospital bag." Maribelle reminded her, pointing to the bag by the door as she sat up.

"Got it." Lissa said, slowing down a bit in her haste, but still trying to move quickly.

Less than ten minutes later, they were ready to leave the house. Frederick was called in the car on the way by Maribelle, and informed that things were finally happening. She denied him being allowed to be in the room for the birth, but promised that Lissa would give him updates throughout the night on the progress. (In the excitement of that long night, however, she would only send him a couple progress texts, and that was when she wasn't either about to pass out from excitement or tending heavily to her laboring girlfriend.) Before ending the call, Maribelle did promise him he'd be allowed to be the first to visit once the baby was born.

The next time they would talk would be a little less than twelve hours from now. The time leading up to that moment may have gone by very slowly, but once things had progressed and it was finally time for her to start pushing, it flew by. Maribelle worked hard to bring their son into the world, and Lissa praised her progress every single push, until finally baby Brady arrived, greeting them immediately with a piercing cry. As soon as he had been handed to Maribelle and Lissa, the aspect of wanting to overlook everything about him began.

"Want to count his fingers and toes first?" Lissa asked.

"Let's." Maribelle agreed, gently unwrapping the bundle. Together, they counted his tiny fingers, his tiny toes, and finished by both placing a kiss on his forehead. Maribelle lay back on the pillow with a sigh. "We did it, darling. Together. He's finally here, and he's perfect."

Lissa merely nodded, too overwhelmed to speak.

Frederick was called and told the news after a little more bonding had happened, and only a little while later he entered the room with a blue "It's a Boy" balloon bouquet and tired eyes, as if he hadn't slept at all the previous night.

"You didn't have to wait up, you were promised to get to be the first to see him." Lissa whispered, as she lead him into the room and to the bed, where Maribelle was holding a sleeping Brady.

"Frederick, you're here." Maribelle whispered, smiling tiredly at him. He came around to stand at the head of the bed, standing at Maribelle's shoulder and looking down at the bundle in her arms.

"Oh, he's perfect." Frederick whispered back. "Glad he made it here okay."

"Would you like to hold him? It would probably be best right now since he's asleep." Maribelle asked.

"Could I?"

She nodded, and he leaned in to take the bundle from her. Lissa quickly stepped in and showed him how to properly hold him, but otherwise let him handle the baby himself.

"This is a little strange." he said after a moment, staring down at the child that was technically half his. An odd silence fell over the room.

"You can come visit him anytime you'd like. You're like family." Maribelle broke the silence.

"Are you going to tell him when he's older?" Frederick asked.

"That depends on if he asks at all. And if you're still around. We both agreed that you can be, if you wanted to." Maribelle told him.

He nodded. After a few more moments of gently rocking the child in his arms, he handed the bundle back to Lissa, still standing by from helping him to hold Brady, and cleared his throat.

"Well, I should leave you guys to bond. Do let me know when you guys get to go home, maybe I can help that first day."

"Frederick, it's okay. You can stay a while, you don't need to leave so soon." Lissa said, starting to rock the baby herself.

"I actually have class today, I just wanted to stop by before to see him." Frederick explained.

"You're welcome to come back after your classes if you'd like." Maribelle offered.

Frederick waved a hand. "That's okay, really. I'll come visit again once you're all home."

"If you're sure...but really, do come by." Maribelle told him. "We do want you in his life still."

"I will be, promise." he said. "I'll see you guys later."

Goodbyes were said, balloons were moved out of the way, and Frederick was gone, leaving the girls and baby alone. Lissa got to spend a few minutes with the baby before he began to get fussy, and Maribelle suggested maybe he was hungry, and maybe they should try nursing again. Lissa agreed and gently handed him to Maribelle, before squeezing in beside her on the bed and resting her head on Maribelle's shoulder.

"So do you think he'll ever ask for a baby brother or sister, and would you be willing to give him one?" Lissa whispered, grinning as Maribelle gently guided Brady to what he wanted.

"Lissa dear, I do love you, but if we are ever to have any more children, it will be you who will carry and deliver them." Maribelle replied, smiling back at her once Brady had settled. "But let's just worry about him for now, what do you say?"

"That's a great idea." Lissa nodded.

"Good." Maribelle said, turning her head to kiss the top of Lissa's head, still resting on her shoulder. She then turned back to focus on Brady. "Oh, I think he's got it now."

Lissa reached to the baby, gently grabbing one of his tiny hands, which was hanging outside of the blanket. "That's our boy."

They sat in silence, watching Brady accomplish the first major lesson in life, eating.

One milestone down, the rest of the day consisted of other numerous procedures for Brady. The worst was when he had to get his blood drawn for some tests, leaving him absolutely inconsolable after the multiple shots in his ankles. His cries broke their hearts, and it took lots of hugs and rocking to try to get him to stop crying. The excessive crying only led to hiccups, which upset him even more. The small endeavor of a blood test ended up causing close to two hours of crying, hiccups, and two very upset new mothers.

Luckily the evening was easier, the three of them getting a decent amount of sleep after that long day's events. And they were allowed to go home the next morning; this time the car ride was much better, mainly because Lissa refused to drive the speed limit in fear of the baby, taking them nearly an hour to drive the twenty minute ride from the hospital to home.

Once home, they found a note on the door, a letter from Frederick explaining and apologizing for his quick leave from the hospital yesterday, and the next time he saw the child, he'd stay a lot longer. That next time was a few hours after they had arrived home and gotten a small nap in. Frederick came over after all his classes had ended that day, and got another chance to hold the baby. This time it felt better, his previous nervousness at both holding a baby and meeting him gone.

The first few days of being home with a new baby were a blur for the girls, between attending to Brady and making up for lost sleep. Luckily, they fell into a daily schedule rather fast. Brady was a good baby, and he grew fast; one day he was a newborn, and the next he was smiling for the first time. Each new milestone was written down and documented for an eventual baby book. By the time Brady's first birthday was on the horizon, that book would have nearly been filled with his accomplishments and the most precious memories.

Frederick was there for Brady's small birthday party. The highlight of that day was after they had sung the birthday song to him, when Brady became too curious about the little frosted cake Lissa and Maribelle had placed in front of him and decided to smash both of his tiny fists into it. All three of the adults cheered as if he had blown candles out, but Brady thought the reactions were bad and started to cry, attempting to hide his face with his frosting-covered hands. The party was temporarily halted as he was cleaned up and assured him everything was okay, and that what he had done was funny, not naughty.

The party wrapped up after he had been calmed down. As he slept that night with some of his new favorite toys he'd received, Maribelle and Lissa grieved over the fact that their baby had turned one.

Their moods were instantly lifted the next morning when, in a fit of screeches and giggles, Brady ran into the bedroom and pulled himself onto the bed. He crawled up the blankets and to his two most favorite people, repeating the two words he knew and loved most, "ma" and "Issa", respectively, before waking them up each with a good morning kiss and hug.

After such a wonderful way to be woken up, how could they be sad anymore?

* * *

 **A/N: Reviews are welcome and appreciated! Be sure to keep an eye out for a possible sequel to this story! c:**


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